The present invention relates to an electric switch assembly comprising two multipolar appliances, each of which comprises an external body provided with a front face, upper and lower transverse faces, side faces and a rear face notably for fixing to a support, wherein at least one of the appliances has breaker properties; the appliances have polar power links including internal power conductors housed in the body and upstream and/or downstream power connection terminals having apertures which open onto the front face for connecting external conductors to the power conductors.
Such a unite may notably be a so-called motor starter. The switching unit may be a contactor, a breaker, a disconnector or any another similar switch appliance which may be used in low voltage electricity distribution or control.
Such an appliance is described in document EP-0 869 594. Facilitating its mechanical assembly is desirable and it is further desirable that the operator may assemble and wire up a motor starter appliance, or more generally a set of electric switch appliances, manually, i.e. without having to resort to a tool.
The object of the present invention is to simplify the setting-up of an assembly of electric switch appliances, notably of a motor starter assembly, and to provide easy assembly and quick wiring up and as far as possible without having to resort to a tool.
According to the invention, in an assembly of the described type, coupling means are provided for maintaining both appliances mechanically coupled, a multipolar interconnection block is applied on at least one of the front faces of the coupled appliances, and it includes plugged pins in the power terminals facing the matching poles of the appliances in order to provide the respective polar links between the appliances, and the pins of the block and the power connection terminals facing each other cooperate by means of a resilient effect.
The coupling means may be a common base or a fastening part, but they are preferably provided on the bodies of the appliances in order to ensure direct coupling of the bodies. The connection terminals are preferably laid out so as to enable cables to be connected with a tool and pins to be connected without a tool; they may also be of the tulip-shaped type with radial clamping. In this way, the electric power link between the appliances takes place, after their coupling without any intermediate part (preferably by fastening them together) by engaging a interconnection multipolar block with pins, and this without requiring any tool.
It is advantageous when the coupling means comprise fitting means with protrusions or slots provided on an upper or lower face of a specific power terminal strip forming the upper or lower face of the body of an appliance either partly or entirely. The relevant appliance may thus be manufactured in a standard version with screw terminals, easily adaptable to the described coupling by simply adding a power terminal strip with resilient or tulip-shaped terminals. Interlocking means also enable the casing of the contactor to be directly and securely fixed to the casing of the breaker.